Saturday, April 17, 2004

My Relationship With Baseball by Lisa Alcock

So much has happened in the off-season, much of it enraging, some of it
depressing and some of it comical 1. My brother and a few of my friends are so
mad at the sport—the sheer stupidity of the owners (Tom Hicks) and the
greediness of the players—that they’ve decided to give up on baseball for good.
I’ve read the same news stories my brother and friends have, yet I remain
hopeful about the state of baseball. Recently I have realized that my
relationship with MLB is quite similar to
several of my past dating experiences with men.

Initially, I get excited about the prospects of a new baseball season.
Usually in December when [Zisk staffer] Kip [Yates] and I
are well into NHL season we begin to count
down the days until pitchers and catchers report. In the dead of winter nothing
seems more exciting than the promise of a new baseball season. My head begins
to fill with thoughts of sitting at Shea with friends on warm summer evenings,
beer in hand, enjoying the game. Similarly, when a prospective gentlemen (and I
use that term loosely, because there have been so few to fit that definition)
enters my life the first few dates are exciting and I’m filled with glee at the
new prospect.

Getting back to baseball…something happens to piss me off in general, like,
say the greediness of players (“Pay-Rod” comes to mind) who have no team
allegiance and go to whatever team is offering them the most money; or owners
who think they can buy themselves a championship. (Last I checked there were
162 games, Georgie. That and you need some lefty pitchers.) I get mad
and frustrated and wonder “Why isn’t there a salary cap?” Or “Why can’t every
team begin on a level monetary field?” I bitch about the Yankees to anyone who
will lend a compassionate ear. Sometimes during mid-season I give baseball the
cold shoulder for awhile—limit myself only to watching games on TV. But I never
give up on the sport. I remain hopeful. (Or is it naivety? Am I ignoring the
blaring inherent problems within baseball?)

Like baseball, I bitch about dating. I have great dates with guys, we make
plans to go out again, then they cancel on me and I never hear from them again.
Or I have really terrible dates where there’s no connection between me and the
guy. I quit for periods, but I always come back….forever hopeful, thinking that
if I just keep trying maybe I’ll meet a good one.

I agree with much of what Kip discusses in “Valentine’s Day Massacre?” [See
article elsewhere in this issue.] However, I don’t think I could give up on
baseball. How could I? I’ve been with it for so long; I can’t just quit cold
turkey. I have many great childhood memories inextricably linked to baseball. I
can’t remember exactly how old I was when my family and I started going to
downtown Detroit to the corner of Michigan
and Trumball to watch the Tigers. I remember being awed by Trammell and Sweet
Lou’s abilities to make double play after double play seem almost
effortless. I played years of softball in grade school which solidified my love
and understanding of the game of baseball. I was on teams that were similar to
the Bad News Bears, but it didn’t matter. I wasn’t the best outfielder, but
that’s not the point. Amongst other things I was learning how to get along with
my fellow teammates and play as a unit. We were playing because we enjoyed
softball and the competition. It was my Mom who took me to K-mart to buy my
first glove (it was a Cooper) and my Dad who showed me how to oil it and break
it in. I cherish the times playing catch with my dad in my backyard. He taught
me how to ground worm burners and catch pop flies in the setting sun during Michigan
summers.

I guess I could be jaded by my past dating experiences, and be cynical about
current or future dates, but I’m not. Experience has helped me understand what
I want. Just as I could be jaded and cynical about the state of baseball, I’m
not. Baseball has the potential to change and build upon past mistakes. I think
things will get better for the both of us.

An outsider might wonder why I still date. They may call it blind stupidity,
but I call it hope. Hope that something will work out. I also have hope for the
sport of baseball. Hope for a salary cap, hope for better revenue sharing and
hope that there are still a few baseball players out there who really love
playing the game, and are as wide-eyed about the sport as I am.

1 - I’d like to vote for my favorite couples of the season right now.
For the NL: Clemens and Pettitte, and for the AL:
Jeter and Pay-Rod.

By day, Lisa Alcock is a copyeditor at a legal publishing company.
By night, she can usually be found at the gym, or at home watching Law
& Order reruns and SportsCenter. Her dream job is to work at
ESPN. It is also her dream to date Mark Mulder. The author would like to
admit that she has not read the Chicago Manual of Style in its entirety.
Kip Yates says of the author: “When she steps inside the white lines
herself, she can also bring it!”